Conversations on Race

Posted by Nancy Gagnier88.20sc on January 07, 2019

Encouraging conversations on race has been part of our organization’s mission for nearly 20 years. We believe that when we talk about race, we have the opportunity to increase understanding, build relationships across racial and cultural divides, and thus create a stronger community. Our annual event is a community-wide conversation on integration, inclusion, and race-related issues of concern to our community and our nation.

Encouraging conversations on race has been part of our organization’s mission for nearly 20 years. We believe that when we talk about race, we have the opportunity to increase understanding, build relationships across racial and cultural divides, and thus create a stronger community. Our annual event is a community-wide conversation on integration, inclusion, and race-related issues of concern to our community and our nation.

The catalysts for the discussions have taken a variety of forms over the years—from panel presentations, to expert speakers, to a documentary film, and to dramatic reenactments. The goal is always the same: to bring residents together in a safe space for facilitated dialogues where we get to know one another, learn, and develop potential solutions. Below are theConversations on Racetopics from the last several years and links to more information, including in some cases further reading on the topic.

2015, Facing Everyday RacismProfessorMichael Jeffries, author of Paint the White House Black: Barack Obama & the Meaning of Race in America led our community discussion of unintentional expressions of bias and prejudice. This year’s forum will helped us come to terms with daily experiences of bias and stereotyping that are more subtle than the language of traditional, overt racism. We learned about the concept of microaggressions–a term used to describe the unconscious and unintentional expressions of bias toward people who differ in race and culture and also gender, sexual orientation, people with disabilities.

2014, Implicit Bias: Who MeMost individuals, groups, and even institutions explicitly renounce racist, homophobic, sexist, ageist, etc. beliefs. But implicit biases operate at an unconscious level and are influenced by our cultural environments. How do we recognize implicit bias? How do our implicit biases influence our relationships in the community? How can we can resolve to become more aware of how we make decisions, and if and when implicit biases may be at work in that process? How are implicit biases at work in our lives and how can we create change? These were some if the issues addressed after a presentation by Elizabeth Williams-Riley of theAmerican Conference on Diversity.

2013, How Are We Doing?This forum was an open dialogue about how the Community Coalition on Race can best benefit our community. It began with brief talks by two Community Coalition on Race leaders—Executive Director Nancy Gagnier and Board Chair Fred Profeta. Then the question was put to attendees about how the Coalition can best move forward to build a community in which people of different races and ethnicities live together, interact, form friendships, and participate fully in all aspects of community life. While the Coalition will always be true to its mission of racial integration and true inclusion, the organization wanted to be responsive to emerging integration issues as discussed by residents.

2012, Growing Through Our DiscomfortIt’s often difficult to talk about race-related issues. Attendees first listened to some provocative and pointed ideas about stereotyping, race relations and the language we use by community leadersBarbara HeislerandDr. Khalil Muhammad. Some of the ideas discussed were that we need to model social integration and get to know people on a more personal level; we need more moral courage to discuss topics like white privilege and the false narratives that continue to beset people of color even within an integrated community; there are still barriers to integration in a diverse community; we need ongoing dialogues to educate people and more social opportunities to develop relationships across racial lines.

2011, Who Are We Now?Andrea Torrice, director of the filmThe New Metropolis, presented this documentary as a catalyst for our dialogue about the benefits of intentional integration. She used compelling, personal stories in her film to facilitate a national dialogue on intentional integration and how it helps communities handle demographic and economic change.

2010, Some of My Best Friends Are…This Conversation on Race included a series of improvisations performed by Dreamcatcher Repertory Theater that depicted real stories collected from the community about awkward, challenging, or painful situations experienced by residents. This was followed by small group discussions on the successes and challenges of social integration.